Evaluation Question Three

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

What does a film distributor do?

A film distributor is responsible for the marketing of a film. The distribution company is usually different from the production company. Distribution deals are an important part of financing a film.

I think my film would be made by a major distributor, because I noticed most fantasy films are mad my major distributors because they need the highest quality of effects, creativity and effort. Most successful fantasy films are distributed by major distribution companies, for example: Avatar was distributed by 20th Century Fox, which is one of the Big 6 film distributors in the industry. Also, my film should reach worldwide in order to satisfy its diverse potential audience.

I think Walt Disney Studios would be the best film distributor for my film because they distribute the most popular fantasy films, especially those most preferred by families, which is the kind of audience my film is trying to attract: families consisting of men over 35 and young girls. According to Box Office Mojo, out of the Top 5 most successful films in the Box Office (yearly), 3 were fantasy thrillers, 2 were fantasy thriller films distributed by Disney.

Examples of Small Budget Films that have become Major Successes

Firstly, under this sector of this evaluation, I collected data from IMBd to discover successful low budget fantasy thrillers. Unfortunately, I could hardly find any, because of the expensive nature of the production and distribution of films of this genre - because of their elements which require specialists and advanced technology. So I chose to use films which had either the elements of a fantasy film or a thriller film as my example.

Paranormal Activity (2007)

Distributor:

Paramount Pictures

Budget:

$15,000

Genre:

Horror, Fantasy

Box office:

$193,400,000

Open Water (2003)

Budget:

$500,000

Box Office:

$54,667,954

Genre:

Biography, Drama, Horror, Thriller

Distributor:

Lions Gate Entertainment

Juice (1992)

Budget:

$100,000

Box Office:

$20,100,000

Genre:

Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Distributor:

Paramount Pictures

The Devil's Rejects (2005)

Budget:

$7,000,000

Box Office:

$19,300,000

Genre:

Action, Crime, Drama,  Horror, Thriller

Distributor:

Lions Gate Entertainment

Above the Rim (1994)

Budget: $3,500,000

Box Office: $16,192,320

Genre:

Crime, Drama, Sport, Thriller

Distributor: New Line Cinema

Cyborg (1989)

Budget: $500,000

Box Office: $10,200,000

Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Thriller

Distributor: The Cannon Group

Evil Dead II

Budget: $3,600,000

Box Office: $5,923,044

Genre: Comedy, Horror, Fantasy

The Science of Sleep (2006)

Budget: $6,000,000

Box Office: $15,014,015

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Drama, Romance

Distributor: Warner Independent Pictures

I do not think there is any film studio which focuses more on my genre. However, my film is most likely to be distributed by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. because they distribute a large amount of top grossing fantasy thriller films such as, The Dark Knight and Gravity. They also distributed films similar to my film idea such as, The Hobbit and Harry Potter.

As mentioned in my target audience analysis, my audience is a mainstream audience because of its elements of suspense and magical realism. I expect my film to be in multiplex cinemas in order to reach its broad audience. Families like to go to the cinema together, and my film is suitable for families to watch because my genre is well enjoyed by various age groups and genres, and from my target audience interviews, I noticed that the older audience members I interviewed use my film genre to bond with children.

I think I will use the traditional method of marketing my film. With ways such as: posters and billboards, movie trailers, TV advertisements, YouTube advertisements, merchandise, interviews and press, apps, soundtrack, etc.

I would not mind that after my film's cinema release it gets on TV (channels such as E4 or Sky Movies), airplanes, Netflix, DVDs, because not everyone is able to go to the cinema at the right time and some people prefer watching films in the comfort of their home.

In Conclusion, just as the other fantasy thriller films are, my film would be distributed my a major film studio and reach as many channels of distribution as possible in order to widely appeal to many audiences, as it is a mainstream film. One of the Big 6 major film distribution Companies such as Warner Bros or 20th Century Fox or Walt Disney Pictures, which focus on films similar to mine, are likely to  spread my production worldwide and assist it to do well in the Box Office.

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